Hannah Franklin is being attacked by a pack of wolves most days this week at Pinewood studios. The 24 year old animal trainer is stunt body doubling for an actress who has to be attacked by a pack of wolves, knocked to the ground and mauled.

 

Decorated with bits of meat, Hannah has spent five weeks going in with the wolves.  ‘I was nervous at first’, she confesses.  The alpha male Montana is top wolf in the pack, who live at Europe’s largest home for furred and feathered film stars, Amazing Animals Ltd, in Oxfordshire.  He learns to jump on her back to reach a piece of chicken tied behind Hannah’s neck, while 2 more animals, Tulsa and Dakota run on seconds later and savage her arms.  It takes half an hour to ready Hannah for her encounter with the wolves.  She is equipped with Kevlar body armour and chain link gloves, covered in Tubigrip bandages, and then wrapped with towels. ‘The wolves don’t like to bite into anything hard,’ she explains, ‘and towels have the right texture both to protect me and to make the attack look real for the film.’ Leather chaps cover her legs in case the wolves go astray from the plan. Another three hours are spent in prosthetics, makeup and costume so that Hannah can pass for the actor she is replacing.  Latex masks are moulded on to her face and body to change her shape and a fibreglass helmet complete with wig tops her outfit off.

 

Just before shooting begins Montana is shown the chicken on Hannah’s back.  He has been trained to launch an attack when Hannah runs away from him.  The biggest risk is that the wolves truly begin to function as a pack and get carried away by the feeding behaviour, Hannah explains, but there are two other trainers on the side of the set to keep control.  Left to their own devices the wolves are capable of ripping her to shreds.  But most of the time wolves are quite timid animals, cautious in new surroundings.  When the set is not being used, the wolves are able to run about and scent mark the area so that it begins to smell wolf friendly.  During the shoot the set is closed to all but essential personnel to help the furry stars concentrate on their roles.

 

Grace and Daisy have had a less stressful time filming the new Scissor Sister’s video a few days ago.  Daisy is a bull snake who had to look aggressive and menacing in a tree above the band for the shoot. Grace Dickinson, 22, is her trainer. ‘The key with reptiles is to handle them regularly, so that they enjoy being touched, they are really very tactile,’ she says while expertly guiding Daisy through her hands.  ‘One of the things I always have to do on set is to ask if anyone has any phobias about snakes.  You’d be surprised how many people do.’  Grace gives her snakes human names like Princess and Rex.  “People seem to find them less scary if they have a name.’

 

Training reptiles is more about using the animal’s natural behaviour than actually teaching them to do something on command. Snakes will always head for dark places so Grace can put a pipe or a blanket near where the animal has to go and the snake will naturally go there.  Grace and her snakes also worked on ‘Make me a Supermodel’ where the girls had to walk down a catwalk draped in a python called Princess.  That was more about training the girls than the snakes, Grace says laughing.